OJ’s white Bronco car chase that transfixed the nation: How star hid in back of Ford SUV with a gun to his head while LAPD pursued him for 90 minutes along freeway lined with cheering crowds

Nearly 30 years ago, a 90-minute police chase started that would grip America and the entire world.

O.J. Simpson, whose death was announced today following a battle with cancer, was wanted by the LAPD suspected of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. 

Two days after the fatal stabbing on June 14, 1994, O.J. led the police on a 90-minute-long low-speed car pursuit in his friend’s white Ford Bronco. 

The infamous car chase saw driver Al Cowlings carry fugitive murder suspect O.J. Simpson down the 405 freeway in Low Angeles, California, as Americans were glued to their TV screens watching the standoff. The fugitive huddled in the back seat of his Cowlings’ Bronco with a gun to his head while the police, media and fans followed after him – like a parade on the freeway.

There were crowds on the overpasses, signs, cheers and fists punching the air as the pursuit unfolded before O.J. ultimately surrendered to police and he was arrested at his home in Brentwood, California, and taken to Los Angeles County Jail.    

After the white Ford Bronco came to a halt at Simpson´s estate, his lifelong friend and teammate, Al Cowlings, got out. Simpson´s lawyer arrived at the mansion nearly an hour later and the arrest came minutes later.

Before fleeing as he was about to be arrested, the former football great left a handwritten letter proclaiming his innocence, saying goodbye to friends and making ‘a last wish’ to ‘leave my children in peace’ – prompting him to be placed on suicide watch when he arrived at the jail. 

‘I can´t express the fear I had that this matter would not end the way it did,’ said Simpson´s attorney, Robert Shapiro, who had worried earlier that the former football great would kill himself. 

In 1995, the O.J. trial transfixed the entire world as he and his famous defense attorney, Robert Kardashian, fought the allegations and evidence, which included blood from the crime scene being found in his car and home and the fact that a pair of gloves worn by the killer did not fit the massive hands of O.J. He was acquitted in the criminal case. 

Two days after the fatal stabbing of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1992, O.J. led the police on a 90-minute-long low-speed car pursuit in his friend’s white Ford Bronco

The infamous car chase saw driver Al Cowlings carry fugitive murder suspect O.J. Simpson down the 405 freeway in Low Angeles, California

O.J. ultimately surrendered to police and he was arrested at his home in Brentwood, California, and taken to Los Angeles County Jail

The fugitive huddled in the back seat of his Cowlings’ Bronco with a gun to his head while the police, media and fans followed after him – like a parade on the freeway

There were crowds on the overpasses, signs, cheers and fists punching the air as the pursuit unfolded before O.J. finally surrendered

Americans were glued to their TV screens watching the standoff and Californians flooded to the 405 freeway to watch the 90-minute-long slow-speed car chase go down

O.J. attended the University of Southern California where he played as a running back for the Trojans football team. The all-star player embarked on a professional football career with the Buffalo Bills and ended his stint playing for the San Francisco 49ers and is regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time

O.J. married Nicole Brown Simpson in 1985 and the pair were together until 1992, two years before her shocking death by stabbing alongside her friend Ron Goldman, for which O.J. was the prime suspect

O.J. went on to pursue an acting career after his football days and in 1988 starred in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! O.J. played Nordberg